A firefighter from the County of Los Angeles puts water on hotspots that may have been burning in this house on Via San Diego street in the Santiago Estates housing tract in Sylmar on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

SYLMAR >> Firefighters made significant progress on the Creek fire Friday, reporting 70 percent containment with an estimate of full containment on Monday, Dec. 11.

By 7:50 p.m., all evacuations had been lifted. The blaze has charred through 15,619 acres in Sylmar in the northeast San Fernando Valley and Angeles National Forest. On Thursday evening, the blaze was 20 percent contained, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.

A firefighter from the County of Los Angeles puts water on hotspots that may have been burning in this house on Via San Diego street in the Santiago Estates housing tract in Sylmar on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The white family’s large workshop garage, of classic cars and over a hundred years of memories that was lost in the Creek fire, is seen on Dec. 7, 2017, in upper Kagel Canyon. The white family has been in the area for over a hundred years and their homes were spared by the fire. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) . .

The white family’s large workshop garage, of classic cars and over a hundred years of memories that was lost in the Creek fire, is seen on Dec. 7, 2017, in upper Kagel Canyon. The white family has been in the area for over a hundred years and their homes were spared by the fire. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) . .

Carmen Cortez and her daugher Ashley Elizarraras gather clothing in their Santiago Estates home. The pair returned to the house to find that it had been saved. During the peak of the fire, embers blew under the house, causing a fire to start. Luckily her neighbor, Jose Anguiano and a group of 10 people, stayed behind after the evacuation was ordered so that they could put out spot fires. Anguiano alerted firefighters that flame was shooting out from under the house, they then extinguished the blaze before it could move into the structure. Sylmar, CA 12/7/2017 (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A fireman from Engine Company 102 puts water on hot spots that may be burning in this house that was destroyed on Via Santiago st. in the Santiago Estates housing tract in Sylmar, CA 12/7/2017 (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Little Tujunga Canyon Rd in the area where the Creek Fire started, a LA County Battalion Chief was briefing a County Strike Team, when a spot fore roared to life on Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by Mike Meadows for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A LAFD firefighter (upper left) surveys three homes that burned down on Via Santa Barbara Dr in Santiago Estates yesterday, Dec. 5, 2017. A total of 5 homes burned on this street and close to thirty homes burned in the Estates. Firefighters were hampered by low water pressure. (Photo by Mike Meadows for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A firefighter from Marinwood hoses hot spots at a stable along Wentworth street in Sunland Wednesday. The Creek fire has burned more than 11,000 acres and destroyed at least 30 structures. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Charred earth smolders along Little Tujunga Canyon road Wednesday morning after the Creek fire burned through the area Tuesday. The Creek fire has burned more than 11,000 acres and destroyed at least 30 structures. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles County firefighters from station 28 attack a fire that broke out Wednesday morning at the Wildlife Waystation at the Creek fire which has burned more than 11,000 acres and destroyed at least 30 structures. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Embers fly in the wind as Cal Fire firefighters battle the Creek Fire on Maude Ave. in Shadow Hills as it burns near Sunland on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Within minutes on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, a home on Hillrose Street in Sunland burns to the ground in the Creek fire. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A horse is led away as firefighters battle blazes along Wentworth street in Sunland at the Creek fire Tuesday. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

LA County firefighters attack a fully involved home on Hillrose street in Sunland at the Creek fire Tuesday. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A LAFD firefighter fights to save a home in the Santiago Estates area of Sylmar this morning. The fight was unsuccessful as at least a half a dozen homes were lost when water pressure was lost on Tuesday, Dec.5, 2017. (Photo by Mike Meadows for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A holiday decoration adorns a light post as a home burns in Santiago Estates during the wind-driven Creek fire in Sylmar on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) . .

A home burns in Sylmar during the Creek fire on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. (Photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Horses are evacuated from a ranch along Kagel Canyon at the Creek fire Tuesday morning. ( Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Friday evening, officials reported that 56 homes had been destroyed, along with 49 other structures. Additionally, 45 homes and 25 other structures were reported damaged. Another 2,500 structures were still threatened.

Shelters that previously housed many of the displaced residents for the past two days were nearly empty by early Friday evening. The Sylmar Recreation Center had just three people left by 6:30 p.m. while at the Branford Recreation Center in Arleta, there were about five.

John Martin, 63, who recently moved to the area from Morro Bay was at Brandford.

“Then this happens,” Martin said. He’d been staying with relatives when the fire broke out. His sister’s neighborhood was evacuated so she called him saying not to come home. She’s staying with friends and he’s still at the shelter.

Brandford shelter workers said it would remain open as long its needed. Eventually shelters could be consolidated.

Santiago Estates was also opened Friday morning to residents. Officials warned returning residents to park in driveways or designated areas and not on the roadway due to emergency traffic.

“Overnight, crews did real good work, putting in dozer line and hand line and keeping the line that we had from yesterday,” Angeles National Forest spokesman Nathan Judy said early Friday. “We’ll be monitoring the fire (Friday) to make sure if we do get winds, it doesn’t push embers outside of our containment lines.”

“We want to make sure they’re safe out there, that they’re rested, they’re getting fed,” Judy said. “The red flag warning has not expired. That’s still looking at going into Sunday evening … They might even extend that into Monday or Tuesday. So the winds are still a concern.”

Kevin Modesti is a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Southern California News Group, covering the political scene in Los Angeles County. An L.A. native, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for most of his career, and later an editorial board member, writer and editor in the Opinion section. He lives in the San Fernando Valley and is based in the Woodland Hills office.

Valerie Osier is a reporter covering the Palos Verdes Peninsula for the Southern California News Group. She graduated from Long Beach State University in 2017 where she studied journalism and served as the news editor for the Daily 49er.

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